But the Premier League say they have not plans to request clubs to hold minute’s silences at tonight’s Manchester derby or this weekend’s fixtures, while the FA have adopted a similar policy for the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley.

Thatcher was not considered sympathetic to football fans during her reign in the 1980s, when hooliganism and crowd-safety were major issues.

Her reign coincided with the 1985 Bradford City fire, in which 56 people died, and the Hillsborough disaster four years later, in which 96 Liverpool supporters died.

Among the Thatcher government’s measures to tackle crowd violence was a deeply unpopular and unsuccessful ID cards scheme.

And the introduction of all-seater stadiums on the recommendation of the Taylor report – commissioned by Thatcher’s government in the aftermath of Hillsborough – still proves contentious among fans.